Re: [bug?] tg3: Failed to load firmware "tigon/tg3_tso.bin"

Jeff Garzik
2008-07-04T13:15:12Z

David Woodhouse wrote:
> On Fri, 2008-07-04 at 12:09 +0200, Andi Kleen wrote:
>> David Woodhouse <dwmw2@infradead.org> writes:
>>> I'll look at making the requirement for 'make firmware_install' more
>>> obvious, or even making it happen automatically as part of
>>> 'modules_install'.
>> Perhaps I didn't pay enough attention, but how are "only
>> boot bzImage without initrd or modules" setups supposed to work now
>> for those drivers? My testing setup relies on that heavily.
>
> That will continue to work just fine.
>
>> Will the firmware automatically end up in initramfs and be included
>> in the bzImage and loaded at the right point?
>
> No, not even in the initramfs. It's built _right_ into the static kernel
> image, and request_firmware() finds it there without even having to call
> out to userspace at all.
> http://git.infradead.org/users/dwmw2/firmware-2.6.git?a=commitdiff;h=81d4e79a

However, there is still a broken element to the system: the firmware no
longer rides along in the module's .ko file. That introduces new
problems for any user and script that copies modules around.

The compiled-in firmware should be in the same place where it was before
your changes -- in the driver's kernel module.

So, yes, there should not be regressions for non-module users. Let's
now solve the regression problem for the other half of the world...

Jeff